recipes

Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting

I decided to bake a cake when the heat was out in my apartment again.  It’s not super cold right now but chilly so what the heck, why not use this as an excuse for making something I shouldn’t be eating.  I had to bake something to warm myself up and had all the ingredients.

I knew I wanted something quick and easy, small.  I knew there was a recipe in my 1972 Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, page 97 for a Dinette Cake.  This was for “A tender, golden cake for small families.”  I wanted chocolate, not hard to do with this recipe.  I am posting the recipe that I made and not the original one for the yellow cake.

One Bowl Chocolate Dinette Cake

 

1 C flour                                           1/3 C cocoa powder

1 C sugar                                          1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt                                          1/2 C milk

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch                      1/4 C French Vanilla Creamer

1/3 C oil                                           1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

 

Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and place all the liquid ingredients in a two cup measuring cup to add all at once to the dry. You can use a hand mixer or hand whisk, which is what I used to keep it simple.

Once the dry ingredients were incorporated, I added the liquid and mixed well.

Pour into a 9x9x2 glass pan well greased, I don’t use flour as I used to and find that if I grease well, there is no sticking and it does not have those clumps of flour on the bottom which detracts from the flavor considerably.

Bake at 325° for approximately 20 min or til done. You can start to smell it and I test with those tiny poultry skewers that come with those lacing kits many use with their turkeys. They work out nicely.

 

Once cooled, I whipped up some quick butter cream frosting by hand from the following ingredients:

1/4 C softened butter, approx 2 C powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla & tiny bit of milk by drops to give it the proper consistency.  If you don’t use salted butter, you can add a pinch of salt to the icing as well.

Then it’s yum, yum, eat it up!

 

Pumpkin Spice Goodies

Po’ Girl’s Recipe Page Soon to Come

PUMPKINPATCH

It’s pumpkin time!  I love pumpkin anything, almost.  If I get a young, sweet one, I will just eat the flesh with a little butter and salt.  Delicious as any good squash.  Problem is many don’t eat them til they are older so they think the taste is very blah.  It’s OK to eat as a vegetable just as any fresh squash is.  It has never gotten proper consideration on the dinner plate.

I always end up sick of Pumpkin Spice by Fall’s end.  From the creamers in my coffee to any recipe I can cram it in, I will do just that.  Was never a fan of actual Pumpkin Pie, not sure why.  I will eat it if it’s offered to me though.  A small piece smothered in whipped cream is not bad.

Please enjoy the following Pumpkin recipes with this disclaimer:  Results are not guaranteed and be aware that I often use less sugar in my recipes than most conventional recipes contain. 

Pumpkin Muffins

 

1 1/2 C flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)

1/4 C brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of other spices of choice such as

nutmeg, cloves, ginger, turmeric or cardamom

1/3 C oil or melted butter

1 egg

1/4 C vanilla creamer

1/4 C Pumpkin Spice

or any creamer/milk with additional sugar for sweetness

3/4 C Pulp of Pumpkin or Butternut Squash

1/2 C well chopped Walnuts (optional)

1/2 C chocolate chips (optional)

This made a dryer batter with results more like a scone than a muffin when I baked them in muffin top holders. (not pictured)

Bake at 375° for approximately 15 minutes, but keep an eye on them.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

2 1/4 C flour of your choice

1/4 C wheat germ

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of nutmeg, cloves, ginger or other spice of choice

1/2 C butter

1/2 C brown sugar

1/4 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 TB Pumpkin Spice Creamer

2 eggs

3/4 C pulp Pumpkin or similar squash

10 oz Chocolate Chips (optional) for plain pumpkin cookies

Chopped nuts (optional)

Mixing & baking identical to making any chocolate chip cookie. The puree & creamer goes in with the wet ingredients, once all incorporated, then the dry, which should have previously been combined and set aside, is mixed in.

Bake at 350° for approx 9 minutes but keep an eye on them.

Cheesecake
YUMMY!
Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

Cheesecake

 

Ritz Cracker crust

42 crackers (crumbled in food processor till done)

2 TB sugar

4-5 TB melted butter

Mix everything in bowl & press in the bottom of an ungreased 8″ Springform Pan with Parchment paper on the bottom. Please click on areas highlighted for more in depth information on how to easily cover the bottom of your pan if you are not familiar with how to do this.

Place the pan in the freezer while you prepare the Cheesecake filling of:

2 – 8 oz pkgs of cream cheese (OK if one is low fat, have not tried all low fat yet per critics)

3/4 C sugar

1/2 C sour cream

2 TB cornstarch

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Using a mixer, cream the cheese and the sugar, then add the sour cream and additional ingredients mixing til combined for each one, one at a time.

To make this

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

you will merely add 3/4 C pumpkin puree & 1/4 C Pumpkin Spice creamer before adding the eggs                                            AND

place 1 tsp cinnamon & dashes of nutmeg & cloves (spices of your choice) to the cornstarch mixture changing up the amount by 1 TB to a total of 3 TB cornstarch.

Once it’s all combined and smooth, take out the crust and pour in the filling. Place in a pre-heated oven of 325° for approximately 45 minutes but please keep an eye on it, especially when you can begin to smell your baking.  One I baked just right, the other slightly over baked but eatable. 

Once it’s out, let it cool for at least an hour or two on the stove before trying to remove the springform band around it. The parchment paper allows it to slide onto the plate very nicely (Parchment will remain under the cake).   Never cut inside any pans if you can avoid it. I have never had to “slide a knife” around the edge as some instructions have advised. You should not ever have to do this.

Place the cheesecake in the fridge for a number of hours to completely chill. Some swear overnight, but I have not had to wait more than a few hours. Make sure it’s completely chilled before cutting.

Great Instant Pot Cheesecake recipe but you will need a special 6″ pan to fit inside the Instant Pot, plus some are not happy with the condensation that drips onto the cake.  Click for more info.

I plan on posting some Instant Pot recipes of my own very soon.

 

Even Better Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I have revised Po’ Girl’s Chocolate Chip Cookies for the third and probably not last time.  I am still striving for something a little healthier than the original Toll House Recipe but lighter and tastier than my previous recipe posted 5 1/2 years ago.  I cannot believe it has been that long!  This newest revision still has half the sugar of the Toll House but a little more fat than last time.  Using much less flour makes a more tender, light cookie, even with most of it being whole wheat flour.

Place on parchment covered baking sheet by heaping teaspoons and bake at 350° for 7-8 minutes for soft baked, a little longer for darker crispier cookies if you prefer.

Our apartment shuts off the heat completely after May so it was down in the low 40’s out here this morning.  I wanted to heat my apartment up a little so I decided it would be a great time to bake and store some in the freezer for later.  Hot weather prevents me from using the oven all summer.

Daily Prompt: Blame the Dog

Any of you guilty of “blaming the dog” for stuff?  Farting, eating your homework, that missing cookie, etc…?

HUH?!

Don’t forget Queens! Today is International Tiara Day! Wear your crowns proudly! 

Please enjoy the following guilty pleasure if you happen to have one of the vintage Duncan Hines Tiara Dessert pans from the 80’s.  If not I’m sure you can make do with what you have on hand and play it by ear.

You can place the strawberries over a custard or vanilla pudding layer as I did or just top with the strawberries.  Whipped cream can only improve the experience.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Sweets 4 the Sweet

Sweets are my downfall in life, my drug of choice.  Mostly chocolate, but I do gravitate towards anything that is sweet.  I am very particular that my sweets not be overly sweet.  How some can scoop teaspoon after teaspoon of sugar into their coffee or tea is beyond me.  Go with one Tablespoon of those flavored creamers or scant 1 tsp of sugar if used instead.

I should mention I have been a “borderline Diabetic” for many years and really have to watch my diet, exercise and my weight to keep it from going full force on me so messing with sweets can be as dangerous as a druggie with actual drugs.  I have been so bad for so many years now, that I got another wake up again a few weeks ago that will scare me into being good again for a while anyway.

Mostly I just do dark chocolate right now but on Valentines Day I was alone and feeling like I needed a treat with no chocolate in the house and bad weather outside.  I made some bite size brownies with my mini muffin tins and used those disposable Wilton bags to decorate them with homemade pink buttercream frosting.

Can use 1/2 C all purpose flour if cake flour n/a. Add pinch of salt if using unsalted butter & not watching sodium intake.

Still take out my kids artwork for holidays!

Daily Prompt: Mushroom

Found some mushrooms in a beautiful Fairy Garden one evening.  Magic Mushrooms I think they call them.

I just happened to saute some button mushrooms in butter yesterday.  I cook them the same day I purchase them so they are fresh and use them in various things such as sauces, soups or even by themselves.  I like adding them to egg drop soup and pumpkin curry soup as well as to my spaghetti sauces.

After knowing supposed mushroom experts that poisoned themselves when using kinds they picked themselves, I leave it to the markets for mine.  I don’t eat mushrooms all the time nor do I eat the wide variety out there.  Sometimes I don’t eat them for years at a time til they catch my fancy again.  Depends on what I plan on cooking and if any fresh are available.

Onions, Mushroom, Zucchini, chick peas, sauteaud in butter with various Mediterranean Spices of your choice sauteed in olive oil.

Daily Prompt: The Luck O’ The Irish

Love that expression!  Of course I am part Irish.  Once when I was a kid I found a $10.00 bill floating in the breeze while out walking on Saint Patrick’s Day and that expression came to mind.  Of course to my knowledge, that was the only St. Paddy’s Day I had this kind of luck of “found money.”  We’ll see when the Mega Millions is drawn tonight!

I swore I was not going to bother making another Irish meal and had the urge for boiled dinner or corned beef and cabbage.  Apparently it’s not really a traditional dish of Ireland, according to my Irish cookbook “Irish Pub Cooking.”  So glad I kept it.  I sold a number of my cookbooks I didn’t use very much before I moved at the end of 2015.  I like the simple recipes in this book.  Beef in Stout with Herb Dumplings, Bleu Cheese & Walnut Tartlets, Savory Oat Crackers and my favorite comfort food, Colcannon, often served around Halloween.  I would never mix in lucky coins or charms for someone to choke on, though some follow that tradition.  Basically mashed potatoes with cabbage and scallions.  Very yummy.  If you like potato and onions you should like this.


Breakfast Muffins

cupofcoffee

 

Good morning!

This is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it!

This recipe might just help you to do that.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

 

             Dry                                                            Wet

1     C whole wheat flour                               1/4 C sour cream

1     C flour                                                       1/4 C oil

2     tsp baking powder                                    1/4 C milk

1     pinch of salt                                           1/4 C vanilla flav. creamer

1/2 C sugar                                                      3    Tb lemon juice

1   C fresh or frozen blueberries                    2 eggs

Mix the dry together in large bowl and then all the wet together to add to the dry. If you don’t have flavored creamer just change milk to half cup and add 1 tsp vanilla.  You can also use whatever type flours you desire.  I use whole wheat for most of my recipes.

Incorporate all ingredients by hand except blueberries but do not over mix. Before folding in the blueberries, I mix them with a couple of Tbs. of sugar first but this is optional.

Fill all cups at least 3/4 full. Should make more than 12 regular size muffins.  Bake at 350° for approximately 30 minutes.

Mix the dry together in large bowl and then all the wet together to add to the dry. If you don’t have flavored creamer just change milk to half cup and add 1 tsp vanilla.  You can also use whatever type flours you desire.  I use whole wheat for most of my recipes.

Incorporate all ingredients by hand except blueberries but do not over mix. Before folding in the blueberries, I mix them with a couple of Tbs. of sugar first but this is optional.

Fill all cups at least 3/4 full. Should make more than 12 regular size muffins.  Bake at 350° for approximately 30 minutes.

(I apologize for the formatting problem on the recipe.  This is what happened using cut and paste.  Please place any question in the comment section.  Thank you!)

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Early Bird Makes the Muffin

Sometimes mildly bi-polar is not so bad.  I’ve never been officially diagnosed as such but it runs in my family and my Doctor recently told me that it’s possible I may be “mildly” bi-polar because I’m a creative type and very sensitive.  I’ve always been able to function normally, sort of, so this comment did not surprise me in any way.  Not sure why all the labels they insist on giving everyone, but on to the challenge and that is I made blueberry muffins early this morning.  Someone gave me a whole slew of frozen blueberries last week and I’m not going to let the go to waste!  Besides, I have to make way in the freezer for ice cream cause summer’s comin’ fast!  Thank God!

Sometimes it appears I become obsessive when taking photographs of various subjects, which is why digital is truly a blessing.  I used up rolls of 35mm film years ago and it was quite expensive.  I was playing with my macro lenses and want to share some of the over 100 shots I took this morning.

I couldn’t stop!  Blueberries produce such fascinating hues and muffins are so textured!  Enjoy my blueberry muffin art and try not to get hungry.  There is a recipe at the bottom in case you want to try these.


PGBlueberryMuffins